Leonie Ben-Simon is a freelance journalist with an MBA from Monash University, Victoria Australia.
Suppose....
I was a journalist employed by Al Jazeera photographing tens of thousands of people in southern Gaza massing at the Egyptian border, pushing down the barrier walls and rushing through into Egypt. As I zoomed in and got closer I could hear them calling out: "Let our people go!" - “To Canada,” “To America,” To Australia, “To Europe,” "To anywhere that takes us in."
Suppose the Egyptian security officers stood aside, terrified that they would be trampled on. Trucks of humanitarian aid were lined up near the border on the Egyptian side. The ant-like multitude of the people who had left Gaza pulled open the truck doors, climbing all over the humanitarian aid boxes as they unloaded them, taking away all that they could carry.
The men commandeered anything on four or more wheels including the now empty trucks, driving their families into Egypt packed with as many as they could fit in to the huge convoy now on the road. They were met by the Egyptian Army and overpowered them, even though there were fatalities on both sides. The Gaza exodus also took over the Army jeeps and trucks.
The tens of thousands became hundreds of thousands, pouring out of the now ruined Gaza and their hopeless prospects. Women carrying babies, small children hanging on to their mothers’ skirts, donkeys hitched to carts loaded with families all rushing in one direction. They had no boats tied to the new US-built pier, nor did America provide any, so there was no other way to leave.
Suppose I stood there photographing the amazing scene, sending it back to Al Jazeera for the world to see.
Would the world adopt this real solution, emptying out Gaza of the citizens they call "uninvolved" who really aspire to a life elsewhere? It is appalling to see that the Egyptian military/mafia is charging $6000 and more per person to leave Gaza, money being collected through Go Fund Me by both the refugees and overseas relations.
Once they were brainwashed to believe they could destroy Israel and many still see that as a goal. but others want a life away from a terrorist government that cares nothing for their welfare. Today they have come to terms with the fact that their place is in other countries of the world. They should be allowed to live elsewhere, the same as other refugee groups have been. The truth is that they have been left to multiply and increase their numbers every year due to the goodwill of Israel, the United Nations and worldwide charities while Hamas used most of the money to build terror tunnels and made idiotic accusations of a non-existent genocide picke up by college students.
The solution must be resettlement. The international funds being spent on them now and the money planned for rebuiilding their homes should be used for a decent future for them, not for warmongering. Once the people of Gaza who want to build productive lives are allowed to move out and onwards, both they and their children will be able to live in peace and prosperity.